Wednesday, July 23, 2014

I'm so excited my contributor, Brittany is back with a new DIY! She is constantly coming up with great projects on her blog, brittanyMakes. I LOVE her latest DIY project. It would make a great gift!

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Hello! It's me, Brittany! I hope you didn't forget me. I took a minute away to have a baby, but now I'm back and ready to share another fab DIY tutorial for you!

Today's tutorial speaks to those who, like me, order way too much fabric for a project and then feel super guilty discarding scraps or remnants after using what was needed for the project. I usually tell myself 'oh, I'll find something else to do with this teeny tiny piece of leftover fabric", which never ends up happening and I end up with a slue of scraps that I don't know what to do with but continue to lovingly hoard. Anyway, today's tutorial is to show you something you can easily do with those scraps! I chose to use scrap leather left over from this project (you can also buy scrap leather from your local craft store, like Michael's), but you can easily alter this tutorial by using scrap fabric. Supplies:

STEP 1 | Cut your scrap leather/fabric. you want the sum of your scraps to measure 2" wide by about 36" long. I think the best length is anywhere in the 36"-40" range.STEP 2| Now, sewing scrap fabric together is pretty easy, but leather on the other hand... kinda tricky. My sewing machine is strong enough to sew through two pieces of leather, but yours may not. I chose to first lay my scraps facing wrong side out, sew them together leaving about a 1/4" seam allowance, opened up the scraps then folded the seam allowance out and sewed it down by hand using gold thread for added detail. *By no means do you have to do the first part of this step. If working with leather you can place the edges against one another and do the gold detail sewing like I did. Or, try gluing it! My seam is located where the strap lays at the back of my neck, and honestly it's a little gold detail I totally embrace.STEP 3 | Using your leather hole punch, punch 6 holes on each end of the strap, two rows of 3. My rivets weren't brass so I used Gold Leaf Rub n' Buff to turn them gold.STEP 4 | Using a little bit of strength, pull open your D ring and attach to your camera's strap joints. If you end up buying D rings that are not open, you will want to attach them with open jump rings.

STEP 5 | Fold the edges around the D ring and secure with rivets. That's it! So easy, right? I've already had people ask me where I bought my camera strap, and they're surprised when I say I made it! Not to mention a good gold and leather combo is a must have these days. So what do you say, is this something you'll try your hand at?

Hi! I'm Brittany from the blog brittanyMakes, where I journal my adventures in DIY projects ranging from everyday home decor to handmade jewelry, from tips in photography to stories of bulldogs, and everything else in-between. I am a fierce accountant by day and a zealous DIYer by night. I spend my time balancing my love for home decor and design with the everyday responsibilities of my corporate day job. My main mission is to inspire my readers to do what they love, take risks, and above all, to exercise their creative muscles!